What We Watched: Reviewing ESPN’s Madison-Steele coverage

Former NFL coach and current ESPN analyst Herm Edwards summed up Saturday’s highly-hyped showdown between Madison and Steele the best.

“This is a good football game, isn’t it? Wow, this is fun” Edwards said giddily after witnessing Steele quarterback Tommy Armstrong’s 56-yard run at 7:15 in the fourth quarter.

For even more fun, a national TV audience watched the game’s main attractions, running backs Aaron Green (Madison) and Malcolm Brown (Steele), rush for a combined 348 yards and 5 touchdowns (Green had 3, Brown had 2).

Was it game for the ages in San Antonio high school gridiron history? Whoever you ask among the 10,525 in attendance at Heroes Stadium who watched No. 4 Madison beat No. 1 Steele, 28-23 will have their own distinct point-of-view of what happened.

The Madison-Steele game was one of eight games in the new ESPN/RISE High School Football Kickoff Series. The series features top prep teams from seven states in eight games played over three days before college and NFL games begin.

But for those watching ESPN’s telecast, it was an entertaining 2 hours and 44 minutes full of solid “TV moments” highlighted by big plays, on-the-field fumbles and only a few on-air gaffes that made viewers stick around until the game’s end.

A few notable moments:

A lot of big plays — Dueling long touchdown runs by the star running backs — Brown’s 88-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Green’s 68-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. Also throw in Steele quarterback Armstrong’s 56-yard TD run in the fourth.

It wasn’t a touchdown but Madison’s Shawn Muller’s 49-yard kickoff return at the start of the third quarter added to the fun.

Play-by-play announcer Clay Matvick opening line: “They make movies about football in Texas. Tonight, we’re going to see it.”

Edwards praising the Madison defense for slowing down Brown and calling the Madison backfield duo of Green and Troy Williams “Thunder” and “Lightning.”

Matvick and Edwards noting the strong fan support, the facilities, the size of both schools’ bands and cars still streaming into the parking lot at kickoff.

Edwards called the fan support “refreshing” because “This is where it starts; this is where dreams come true for kids.”

The graphic had both players going to the wrong schools — Brown’s photo was next to Madison’s logo and Aaron Green’s headshot was next to a Steele logo.

Also, Brown was listed with no touchdowns after the first half. Brown did score with 1:34 left in the second quarter from a 10-yard pass from Armstrong.

Second biggest mistake — Matvick mentioned at least three times this was the first night of high school football in Texas. Saturday was the third night of Texas high school football — the season began on Thursday.